6 OCTOBER 7, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
NYC’s #1 Source for Political & Election News
Queens assemblyman presses Hochul to seek
‘justice’ for COVID-19 nursing home victims
BY DEAN MOSES
EDITORIAL@QNS.COM
@QNS
Though the Cuomo administration
ended more than a
month ago, family members of
loved ones who died of COVID-19 in
nursing homes across the state
continue to demand accountability.
Joined by families who still cling to
photographs of loved ones they lost
inside nursing homes during the
height of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Queens Assemblyman Ron Kim
touted new legislation outside the
governor’s Midtown offi ce on Sept. 29,
but not without criticizing Governor
Kathy Hochul in the process.
The governor’s offi ce located on
633 Third Ave. saw a crowd of angry
constituents gathered in front of its
entranceway on Wednesday with a
clear message: Cuomo’s resignation
last month was not accountability.
Although the rally was publicized
as the announcement of a new proposed
victim compensation fund
that looks to allow families of those
who perished inside nursing homes
to receive monetary reimbursement
for wrongful deaths, Kim and activist
group Voices for Seniors did not wait
long before also letting loose on both
the previous and current governors.
While some lampooned Cuomo
for attempting to escape justice by
resigning, they also charged that
Hochul’s silence during that time
made her complicit.
Both Kim and Public Advocate
Jumaane Williams (who’s exploring a
run for governor in 2022) noted that,
since the beginning of the pandemic,
they repeatedly called out the former
governor for what they say was reckless
and negligent actions — such as
an order issued on March 25, 2020,
which allowed COVID-19-positive
seniors to be readmitted into nursing
homes and other care facilities.
State offi cials had suggested that
the order was necessary to free up
hospital space at the height of the pandemic,
as the infected seniors were
no longer considered contagious.
“Now, I fi nd it sad and disturbing
that we’re outside, not inside with the
governor to discuss this proposal and
Assemblyman Ron Kim touts new legislation. Photo by Dean Moses
other pending issues surrounding
the state’s mishandling of nursing
homes,” Kim said. “The families are
still reduced to being on the streets
fi ghting for accountability and justice.
This is disturbing because the
political establishment, like Kathy
Hochul and Brian Benjamin are
reaping the benefi ts of the pains and
traumas of the families.”
Kim implied that Cuomo had actually
resigned “to avoid accountability
for his March 25, 2020, death order.”
In fact, Cuomo stepped down on Aug.
24, 2021, aft er becoming embroiled in
a sexual harassment scandal.
If passed, the Nursing Home
Victims Act will be the first ever
victim’s compensation fund and
holds the state and for-profi t nursing
home industries accountable for the
wrongful death of a family member
during the pandemic. In addition it
will amend the state’s defi nition of
wrongful death and statute of limitations
to help victims seek justice
through the courts.
Kim estimates $4 billion for the
compensation fund and states that it
also prevents future constraints on
liability for nursing homes, ensuring
nothing like this occurs again.
This legislation means a great deal
to attending individuals such as
Tanya Dupree, who told amNewYork
Metro that her mother, Sallie, was
initially only supposed to spend two
weeks in a rehabilitation center for
her atrial fi brillation heart condition
— but then she caught COVID-19.
“She caught COVID, and by the
time we were able to rush her out to
NewYork-Presbyterian, we were told
that there was nothing they can do
and we had to come and say goodbye.
That next day we said goodbye, and
the third day she was moved into
hospice and then 30 minutes later she
died,” Dupree said. “My mother did
not go into the rehabilitation center
with COVID. She had other ailments,
but she didn’t have COVID.”
Reports have found that approximately
15,000 seniors died, and activists
affi rm that this was a direct result
of Cuomo’s directive. While Kim was
grateful for the full transparency of
the numbers of seniors who perished
during the height of the pandemic, he
believes this eff ort is not enough.
“What the new governor can do, if
she wants to be a part of that, is acknowledge
the wrong that occurred
by everyone who was involved, by
all the people who were silent and
to apologize on behalf of the state for
that, to provide the transparency
that is necessary, to not continue the
wrong things that happened before
and put some money on the
table to compensate for people’s pain,”
Williams said.
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